The Vital Need to Link Discovery and Access

Over the past few weeks, there has been an interesting set of discussions about whether the Liberian part of the Ebola outbreak this winter was foretold and therefore could have been stopped earlier. Writing an op-ed in the New York Times, several researchers noted that they recently “stumbled across” an article indicating the reasonable likelihood that Liberia would be faced with cases of Ebola, which turned out to have been one of several studies predicting Liberia being in the zone of likely exposure for the virus. Public health officials had not acted on this known likelihood. The question is why.

These authors focused on the fact that the study in question was conducted by Europeans rather than in partnership with Liberians, limiting its ability to be discovered or have impact given the way that public health information flows operate, in their view. But several others note that these scientific conclusions were published in traditional journals, rather than under open access conditions, making it onerous if not impossible for the nation most directly in need of this information to access it.

Comments

Leonard MafricaApril 18, 2015

Excellent questions to ask. In an era when billions can see a video of a screaming goat the day it is posted, we must all work to ensure that what is discovered is discoverable in the places - and at the moment - it is needed for public health.

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